New Kent supervisors to discuss communication system at June 25 work session

NEW KENT – New Kent County Supervisors will continue discussing the possibility of upgrading the county's outdated emergency communication system on June 25.

The board voted at its June 9 business meeting to defer talking about the system until the work session, which starts at 9 a.m. in the County Administration Building boardroom.

County Administrator Rodney Hathaway will be presenting fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017 budget options to the board.

The board first discussed the issue at their May 28 work session, when Consulting Engineering Associations, Inc. shared the results of an emergency communications needs assessment.

"On your current system, only 50 percent of the portable radios and 80 percent of the mobile radios are covered in this county," said Michael McGannon, a wireless system manager at the consulting company.

According to McGannon, New Kent County's coverage falls well short of the public safety standards of 95 percent and uses a VHF communication system, which has become "antiquated" by new technology, including the 800/700 mHz regional system.

"With VHF you get a lot of interference and you compete with other frequencies," he said.

In order to do so, New Kent would have to agree to the $6.7 million project, which would include four 300-foot communication towers at $1-2 million per site, as well as all portable and mobile (car/bus) radios.

These sites would expand New Kent emergency communication coverage to span the entire county and serve as a main area for organized disaster management and evacuation, especially along I-64.

According to Terry Hall, Chief of Emergency Communications at the York-Poquoson-Williamsburg Regional Emergency Communications Center, if New Kent joined the regional system, they would receive the existing contracted software and radio frequency prices with Motorola, saving the county $1.5 million over a 10-year span, or approximately the lifespan of the system (before upgrades).

At the same time, the county would also save $800,000 on not hiring an emergency systems manager, but rather sharing one with the Yorktown-Williamsburg/James City- Gloucester regional team.

Supervisors have until Aug. 1 of this year to sign a contract with the regional team and Motorola. However, they are being offered two payment options, both of which feature deferred payments. Supervisors have the choice of either opting to pay $809,000 per year, starting in August 2015 or $850,000 per year, starting August 2016.

New Kent would also have to pay around $350,000 annually to maintain their system, which could influence the tax rates.